Advanced Search

Plug and process loads (PPLs) in commercial buildings account for almost 5% of U.S. primary energy consumption. Minimizing these loads is a primary challenge in the design and operation of an energy-efficient building. PPLs are not related to general lighting, heating, ventilation, cooling, and water heating, and typically do not provide comfort to the occupants. They use an increasingly large fraction of the building energy use pie because the number and variety of electrical devices have increased along with building system efficiency. Reducing PPLs is difficult because energy efficiency opportunities and the equipment needed to address PPL energy use in office spaces are poorly understood.

This report discusses miscellaneous electrical loads, which are building loads that are not related to general lighting, heating, ventilation, cooling, and water heating, and typically do not provide comfort to the occupants. MELs in commercial buildings account for almost 5% of U.S. primary energy consumption.

The Research Support Facility was designed with energy efficiency and sustainability in mind. Many of its innovative technologies use passive and active processes to provide energy for its operations, such as electricity, heating, and cooling. The goal of this unique office building is to reach net zero energy use by engaging staff in best energy practices.

This eight-page fact sheet helps employees moving to the RSF navigate NREL's changing landscape. This brochure provides getting up and running, building access, emergencies, shuttle service, RTD buses, parking locations, parking passes, exceptions to off-site parking, conference rooms and huddle rooms, balconies, elevators, lunchroom, quiet rooms, smoking, iGo Power Smart Tower, and supporting RSF's net zero energy mission.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Research Support Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a new 222,000 square foot office building. It achieves the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design New Construction Platinum certification, and is expected to become the largest net-zero energy office building in the nation.

NREL's sustainability vision is to build a laboratory of the future that is committed to sustainability, which is built on a framework of economic viability, environmental health, and public responsibility over the long term through appropriate investment decisions and operating practices.This report shows NREL’s progress in making sustainability an integral part of its corporate culture and providing a global sustainability model

This checklist packet is a team-focused guide to realizing energy savings in high-performance office buildings through carefully considered lighting and control design. The checklists should be distributed among the integrated project team, including the owner, lighting designer and engineer, commissioning agent, and facility manager, at the beginning of a project and referred to regularly during design meetings and drawing reviews.

Conventional information technology (IT) equipment and data center spaces can consume more than 100 times the energy of standard office spaces, so the potential for energy savings is huge. You can use this application guide to reduce your equipment energy consumption in any building with a data center, server closets, or other IT equipment (computers, printers, etc.). Some of these strategies are most effective at the beginning of the design process; others can be implemented at any time and be sequenced as part of the normal procurement and replacement schedule.

This fact sheet published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory discusses the lab's newest building, the Research Support Facility (RSF). The RSF is a showcase for ultra-efficient workplaces. Various renewable energy and energy efficiency features have been employed so that the building achieves a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Plug and process loads in commercial buildings account for 5% of U.S. primary energy consumption. Minimizing these loads is a primary challenge in the design and operation of an energy-efficient building.